


valiant

by goldavn



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, Wanna One Ensemble - Freeform, lim changkyun appearance, magical woojin, merlin universe au, prince/knight jihoon, some sword fighting but nothing gorey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-18 01:32:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16985601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldavn/pseuds/goldavn
Summary: jihoon and woojin are best friends despite their ranks in society, and through their adventures come to believe there is something more than friendship shared between them.





	valiant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sewuwu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sewuwu/gifts).



> hello sewuwu~ this is my first time writing a full blown historical/merlin universe and i couldn't thank you more from prompting this and giving me the opportunity to play around with this concept. if you have seen merlin, you'd notice that both the fic title and overall premise of this au is from the episode in season 1 called 'valiant'. i hope that you can enjoy reading this and merry merry christmas! i hope you will spend it well ♡

Woojin cannot remember a time when he wasn’t friends with Jihoon, or should he say what he is known more widely as – Prince Park. They’ve been inseparable, no matter how hard Jihoon’s father, the king, tried to stop them from associating with one another. If anything, it caused Jihoon to defy his father further every time he tried to put his foot down on Jihoon.

“Are you ready for the tournament?” Woojin asks him as they walk through the forest behind the castle grounds.

Jihoon swings his sword in his right hand, shield in his left. The sunlight catches on the silver and shines brightly against the pair.

“As ready as I could ever be,” he says, starting to jog ahead of Woojin.

They are making their way to the clearing where Jihoon had insisted they train at – mainly as a reason to leave the castle walls and away from the insanity that is the royal household – though, Jihoon is the one who has to deal with that first hand.

Woojin was raised in the servant’s quarters for most of his early life, and his father had been a kitchen hand inside the King’s palace. But when the dark magic came to Camelot and the sorcerer wiped out half of the kingdom, his father was amongst those that had perished. Since then, Woojin’s own magic had broken through from the tragedy and he had been under the Warlock Jisung’s care ever since. They lived in the outer villages amongst the common people and Woojin liked his life out of the limelight - his noble counterpart however, _relished_ in it. 

It was no secret that Jihoon enjoyed his royal status – partly because he craved public attention (even though he denied such claims whenever Woojin brought it up) and partly because of his need for validation. Being a King’s son isn’t exactly easy – the amount of obligations and expectations Jihoon has to live up to are endless. But hearing praise from others even when he had failed was something he enjoyed, and he was thankful that the people of Camelot were far more forgiving towards him than his father.

“Who did you say your opponent was?” Woojin asks, setting down their training equipment on the grass patch.“There isn’t just one, Woojin, there is many.” Jihoon begins to secure his armour in place, despite the scorching summer weather beating down upon them.

“No, the one you have been yammering on about?”

“Oh! You mean Daniel? He’s supposed to be really good and all the ladies in the palace keep saying how godly he is in appearance,” Jihoon says, eyebrows furrowed as he thinks about the famous Daniel. He wasn’t kidding when he said all the ladies in the palace find him attractive, because even his grandmother had been whispering to him about how Daniel came from an almost ancient line of handsome princes. It made Jihoon curious as to how gorgeous Daniel really is; especially when Jihoon himself is the kingdom’s resident hottie – and he damn well knows it too.

“I bet that doesn’t sit well with you,” Woojin cackles, throwing Jihoon’s sword to him from its place formerly on the grass.

“Can you not agree for once that I am gorgeous?” Jihoon questions. With the way the sun is beating down and highlighting the sweat across his cheek bones, and those perfectly plumped lips resting as a pout, it is making it hard for Woojin to disagree.

“I just can’t imagine someone being more handsome than you Hoonie,” Woojin winks, earning himself a harder than normal pat on the shoulder.

“You do push my buttons these days,” Jihoon suggests with a smirk, “more than usual, in fact.”

“Jisung has me studying older runes and it’s doing my head in. Forgive me for wanting to have some fun by bantering with my best friend,” Woojin banters.

Jihoon stops in his tracks and points his sword toward him, “Excuse me, address me as your Prince you squire.”

Woojin giggles as Jihoon adopts his father’s tone of voice, mocking the way the royal family acts in every given situation.

“Oh, I am so utterly sorry, my prince.” Woojin bends on one knee, following Jihoon’s roleplay before reaching out to tap the behind of his knee, sending Jihoon collapsing into the grass. Jihoon can’t help but laugh as Woojin joins him on the grass in a laughing heap himself. As they lie on the grass, they find themselves looking up at the sky and the small clouds forming above them. 

“You’ll be careful, right?” Woojin asks.

“About what?” Jihoon asks, equally as quiet as Woojin when he had asked the question.

“The tournament,” Woojin replied, turning his head to face Jihoon.

There it was again, an expression that appeared once in a blue moon. The look that Jihoon was actually _scared._

“Course. I promise,” Jihoon mumbles, voice trailing off along with the bright sun behind the clouds.

Woojin daringly reaches out to rest his hand on Jihoon’s chest despite the heat of the armour, anything to bring Jihoon back from his thoughts. The sound and feeling of his hand jolted Jihoon’s body and his eyes darted back to his friend.

“Shall we practice?” Woojin asks, lending a hand to help Jihoon from the grass. He nods his head and graciously pulls himself up, holding tightly onto Woojin’s hand and furthermore his shoulder once stable on his two feet.

“Shall we?”

 

♘

 

Woojin flopped down onto his bed at the ripe time of eleven in the evening after finally returning from Jihoon’s side.

After training, he had accompanied Jihoon back to the castle grounds and helped Jihoon clean his armour, ate lunch with him and even helped his tidy his living quarters. He thinks that he’s the only common person allowed into the castle grounds on Jihoon’s request because Jihoon knows he won’t be stealing glances of the maidens that roamed the grounds. Instead, he seemed to only have eyes for Jihoon, or otherwise they were vacant – waiting for the right person to steal all of his glances. Little did he know that he already thought that way of Jihoon, and it was obvious to Jisung – being an older and wiser man, he chose to keep the observation to himself, but it was still clear that Woojin wasn’t the vacant-eyed man he thought he was.

“Busy day?” Jisung called from the living area.

Woojin yelled through a gruntled reply, busy trying to make the bed into the comfortable mess he liked the most.

“Did you practice y _ourself_ today?” Jisung asks, head popping around the corner this time. Woojin rolls his eyes, and it’s obvious to Jisung that the answer is clearly no. Jisung sighs, but doesn’t scold him, after all – magic is banned in the kingdom which is why he has to practice controlling his powers in secret.

“I will tomorrow,” Woojin mumbles, head resting against the pillow. He’d almost dosed off when three loud knocks on his door sends him back awake. He rolls over to make out the tall figure of Jisung in the doorway, but a shorter man behind him. Woojin has to rubs his eyes to get a clearer look and when he recognises who the man is he jumps up from his bed. 

“Jihoon?”

Jihoon smiles as Jisung shuts the door behind them, leaving the two young men in the bedroom alone.

“What on earth are you doing here? It’s late,” Woojin says, suddenly conscious of his bed hair and body odour from having not showered before choosing to sleep.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jihoon tells him, motioning to his own night wear.

“But why come here? Won’t you get in trouble?”

“Oh believe me, father would be pleased I spent the night away from home. That way he’d finally get off my back about finding a lover.” Jihoon huffs as he takes a seat on Woojin’s bed, kicking off his shoes and hooded cape he had worn.

 

“Lover? Is that suddenly what I am now,” Woojin questions, trailing fingers up Jihoon’s arm. Jihoon swats him away and lets out a hearty laugh.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jihoon cackles. Woojin grins, but deep down can’t ignore the weird swirling pit in his abdomen.

“So, you want to sleep here?” Woojin asks.

Jihoon nods and pats the bed before crawling over to the side next to Woojin.

“That is, if you don’t mind.” Woojin quickly shakes his head and holds up the blankets for Jihoon to cuddle up under. Woojin carefully pulls the blankets over himself and they settle in, barely touching under the covers. The lie in silence, the only sound in the air of their hushed breathing every so often.

“Are you nervous?” Woojin asks, breaking the silence blanketing the air.

He’s silent, but Woojin can feel the pillow dip under him as Jihoon nods his head. 

“Well my prince, I think you’ll be just fine.” Woojin exclaims, careful not to raise his voice too loud.

“Tonight I’m no Prince. Just Jihoon,” Jihoon says - voice soft and almost hollow, “Just Jihoon…”

“Well just Jihoon, I think you’ll be amazing.”

“Woojinie…” Jihoon begins to say, pausing for a brief few moments.

Woojin hums.

“Thank you,” Jihoon whispers, breath tickling his ears.

“No need to thank me. You rest now,” Woojin whispers back while rolling over to face him.

Jihoon’s eyes were half closed, lips slightly apart as he was drifting off to sleep.

And there it was again.

That weird, swirling pit.

 

♘

 

 

When Woojin wakes, Jihoon is gone.

 

♘

 

Tournament day had come and Jihoon was a nervous wreck. Though he was good at hiding his worries, he had been a fumbling clumsy mess all morning in his room while getting ready.

“When will he get here,” he grumbles. He was passing the room while waiting for Woojin’s arrival and this rate he was the only person that could possibly calm Jihoon down before the tournament commenced. 

He knew who his first opponent was from the rumours – Lim Changkyun. He was renowned for his swordsmanship and he was one of the strongest fighters in Essetir – a kingdom near Camelot. Going up against such a strong fighter as his first opponent was really playing on his mind – and the normally well composed Prince Park was turning into a frenzied mess. 

The door opens and Woojin finally reveals himself, guiltily walking towards Jihoon.

“Ah! Where have you been?” Jihoon demands.

“I had to practice,” Woojin tells him.

Jihoon huffs, but points toward his armour.

“Fit me,” Woojin nods and scrambles to pick up the armour. He begins to securely fit them onto the Prince, and soon enough his nerves start to settle and his guilt for snapping at Woojin settles in.

“I-I’m sorry,” Jihoon stutters.

“I know you’re nervous, it’s okay.” Woojin says, however, Jihoon can see right through him. He knows he is a little hurt and he wishes he could take back saying anything in the first place.

Woojin hesitates, “I could, you know.” He makes a motion with his hand as if he were a magician.

“No. You’ll get caught, and I want to win fairly.” Jihoon refuses Woojin’s offer – and of course he does. Jihoon was all about going about these things in his own way, and always refuses help – even if he needs it. 

“Okay, I believe in you.” Woojin assures him, securing the armour onto his body, placing his sword in hand.

Jihoon isn’t so sure he believes in himself.

 

♘

 

The crowd was cheering, and it was the loudest he’d ever heard the crowd compared to past tournaments Camelot had hosted. He was standing in the ring, the announcer calling his name – the noble Prince Park of Camelot. Jihoon looked to the stands, his fathers narrowed eyes set on his son. Jihoon nodded, and his father nodded back. He looked a few heads over and could see Woojin standing below the stalls on hand in case anything were to happen to Jihoon during the battle.

Soon enough, Changkyun was being called from his own corner and his attire was stunning. All silver armour over the type of green clothing – the kingdom colour of Essetir. His shield had a large snake etched into it – and dare Jihoon say, it was little intimidating.

The two champions took their places in the ring, their feet finding their stance in the sandy, dirt ground below them. Neither of them wanted to make the first strike, both of them shared the same style of defending first, giving them better strength for the second or third blows. Eventually Changykun broke first, darting out with his sword to strike at Jihoon’s shoulder. Jihoon successfully dodged the attack and struck Changkyun’s side with his own sword. The other male grunted as he stumbled backwards, quickly trying to balance himself as the crowd’s cheers roared into their eardrums. Jihoon struck again, but this time Changkyun blocked it with his shield, and was able to land a strike of his sword against the armour across Jihoon’s thighs. The armour didn’t reach the whole way to his knees, so when Changkyun dragged the sword back to his standing stance, the blade cut along material of his undergarments. He could feel the blade break skin but he wasn’t going to give his opponent the satisfaction of knowing that he was in pain.

He wasn’t going to lose.

They battle what feels like hours but in reality – it had only been five minutes. The pair were both as strong as each other, making their attacks, blocks and counter actions much harder to land with a forceful blow. Jihoon was in a compromising position – Changkyun had managed to push him back the barrier of the ring, making it hard for Jihoon to strike back. When he sidestepped, Changkyun slammed his sword against his back and Jihoon tumbled onto his knees. When Changkyun had gotten closer he had held his shield in front of him and… what the hell?

The snake was _moving_ on his shield, like it was almost trying to come out of the wood.

Jihoon’s eyes widened as the snake started to manifest out of the shield and he swears Changkyun himself doesn’t even know what is happening. Jihoon scrambles to stand and dodge the snake darting towards him from the shield. The crowd is completely oblivious and Changkyun was staring in shock at the shield. Jihoon decides to strike at the snake, barely missing its head. The snake recoiled right back into the shield.

Jihoon thought his must could have been playing tricks on him but it was clear Changkyun had seen the same thing as he did. They try to continue the fight, but a bell chimes – signalling the end of the match.

“Tie!” A bellowing voice announces, and the crowd cheer. When Jihoon looks to father – he sees him shaking his head, standing from his spot and leaving the stands.

As always, Jihoon is never good enough.

 

♘

 

“Woojin I swear I’m telling you a snake came out of his shield!! That has to be magic,” Jihoon exclaims. He had returned to his room shortly after the match and Woojin had followed him closely, sensing the tension.

“Not just any old person can make a snake manifest from a shield,” Woojin argues with him. Woojin believes him but it was impossible that Changkyun had been able to perform such magic himself – he had to have help from somebody else. But what didn’t make sense was the fact Changkyun didn’t seem to be aware that the snake would appear.

Jihoon held onto his arm as Woojin was trapped in thought.

“Woojinie, I’m worried.”

And that was enough to get Woojin to trust in him, as if he didn’t already do so.

 

 

♘

 

 

Jihoon heard the news the next evening. Kang Daniel had his scheduled battle with Changkyun and was in the infirmary unresponsive after a strong accidental blow to the head. Jihoon though this was strange and waltzed down to the infirmary, so he could take a better look for himself – if his suspicions were correct, this was no any ordinary blow to the head.

When he reached the infirmary, it didn’t take him long to find Daniel. And, the rumours were somewhat true – the man was drop dead gorgeous even in his slumber. Jihoon looked carefully over his body and found nothing, that was until he saw something red poking out from behind his ear. Jihoon hesitantly stuck his hand out to gently turn Daniel’s head and found two small puncture wounds that fit the exact image a snake bite would.

This was all the evidence Jihoon needed to prove it to Woojin that he was actually _right_.

 

♘

 

Woojin couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the snake bite.

“Merlin’s beard,” Woojin exclaimed.

“There is no way this is fake or fabricated, Jihoonie it’s actually a snake bite!”

Jihoon has a smug grin on his lips while letting himself brush against Woojin’s ear with them, “told you so.” Woojin turns around from the tickle on his ear, only to be met with wandering eyes and a soft expression on Jihoon’s face. If Woojin didn’t know any better, he thought this feeling he constantly got in his stomach finally found its reason – wanting to kiss Prince Park. Woojin shakes himself from the thought but can’t help the blush forming on his neck and ears.

“Do you think you can get rid of it?”

Woojin wonders, “I think so. I think I might be able to with some of Jisung’s grimoires." 

“Well, should we get to work then?” Jihoon grins.

Woojin nods, “better now than never.”

 

♘

 

Woojin had been searching through every grimoire Jisung had in the house – anything in order to find a spell that would trap the snake back inside the shield. It could be possible that is was just a prankster spell – that it would do no harm and was merely an illusion but there was also a chance that it was something else entirely malicious. He really didn’t want to see Jihoon get hurt, it would be the last thing that he would ever let happen. He cared too much for him to just watch him go down without a fight, it just wasn’t a Jihoon thing to do. 

He found the spell he was after, and began to recite it in his head, careful to memorise it exactly word for word.

He was going to need it.

 

 

♘

 

Woojin began to work his charms from underneath the viewing towers, keeping a close eye on Changkyun’s shield. He watched as he and Jihoon battled and he felt dread wash over him as Jihoon was knocked to the ground from a hefty slam of Changkyun’s sword. He watched as Jihoon grew increasingly alarmed as Changkyun’s shield began to gently shake – the snake was about to come forth. Woojin had to hurry up if he wanted to do this smoothly but it seems like Changkyun’s snake had other plans. The snake emerged and struck Jihoon, and Changkyun tried to take a step backwards, but the snake lunged forward again, grasping clasping onto Jihoon’s neck. It was such a blur, the bells and the medics running into the arena area, and Woojin could barely get two steps before the snake fell off the shield into a pile of dust. But that didn’t matter – what mattered was Jihoon’s limp body lying in the arena. He tried to get towards them, but the medics were quick to beat him to it,

Woojin felt sick and couldn’t care less about anything other than Jihoon right now. He followed the medics to the infirmary and waited until they had Jihoon settled. Woojin couldn’t help but nibble his lips from nerves. He crept in and sat down next to Jihoon’s side, slipping his fingers into his hands. Jihoon smiled, and squeezed Woojin’s hand.

“Hey,” he whispers. 

“Hey, you took a pretty hard bite.”

“But you managed to stop it,” Jihoon says.

“Literally just in time,” Woojin tells him. Jihoon continues to smile and brings Woojin and his hands to his mouth, landing a soft kiss onto Woojin’s knuckles. Woojin hesitantly leant in, unsure if what he was doing would be returned but he knew Jihoon had to have felt the same way.

And when he lets his lips land on Jihoon’s and he kisses back – it feels like _magic._


End file.
